Mishcon de Reya has today opened applications for MDR LAB 2019. This is the third year that the programme for early stage and growth technology start-ups in the legal space will run. Applications are welcome from companies at concept through to revenue-generating stage, as long as the product or service is applicable to the legal industry.
The MDR LAB alumni now includes 11 companies covering a range of technologies and geographical areas including the UK, US, Europe, Israel and India. Last year, Mishcon de Reya announced that it had invested in Thirdfort, which facilitates the exchange of money in property transactions. This follows two previous investments in 2017 in litigation case management platform, Everchron, and automated time-keeping software, Ping. In addition to investment, Mishcon de Reya continues to work closely with all the companies involved in MDR LAB.
This year, MDR LAB has increased the benefits available to eligible start-ups by partnering with Microsoft for Startups, Amazon Web Services through their AWS Activate program and HubSpot for Startups. MDR LAB participants and alumni will be able to take advantage of the benefits offered by these programmes such as free cloud credits and on–demand technical support to scale their businesses and manage their customer pipelines.
MDR LAB has also extended its Advisory Board to include Jason Moyse, Marie Bernard and David Bushby. Jason is a principle of Law Made, an agency supporting the makers of legal innovation, and Manager of Legal Business Solutions on behalf of Elevate Services, a next-generation legal service provider. Marie is the Founder and Managing Director of Bleu de Prusse, a service design boutique, and a Board Member of the European Legal Technology Association (ELTA), and David is Managing Director of InCounsel – a curated panel of over 100 independent legal professionals that gives legal departments, law firms and businesses an easy way to access legal expertise.
Nick West, Chief Strategy Officer at Mishcon de Reya, said, “Over the last couple of years we have had the opportunity to work with, and learn from, 11 great companies and founding teams who are challenging the status quo and bringing new ideas into the legal industry.
“We love helping these companies understand the problems that we face and working with them on product market fit, as well as giving them a better sense of our requirements for security, contract terms and fit with the rest of our technology stack.
“Our lawyers and business operations teams are energised by having MDR LAB start-ups in our offices and we can’t wait to see what 2019 brings!”
Notes:
Microsoft for Startups is a programme designed to accelerate growth-stage startups who have a product in market (Seed and Series A) who work with enterprise customers. In addition to technology access, the program provides dedicated resources for joint sales engagements and community benefits that help startups grow their customer base and revenue.
Amazon Web Services provides start-ups with the low cost, easy to use infrastructure needed to scale and grow. The AWS Activate program provides start-ups with the resources needed to quickly get started on AWS – including credits, training and support.
Comprised of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and a powerful free CRM, HubSpot gives companies the tools they need to manage the customer experience from awareness to advocacy.